Fastening device for garments, shoes, tents, and the like



Aug. 12, -1952 H; wENDE 2,606,352 FASTENTNG DEvTcE FOR GAEMENTs, sHoEs, TENTS, AND THE LiKE Filed April 2, 1947 Fiqh/ 32 22 4o lo Patented ug. 12, 1952 UNITED STATES TENT OFFICE FASTENING DEVICE FOR GARIWEN'IYS,l SHOES, TENTS, ANI) THE LIKEl Application April 2, 1947-, SerialNo. 738,832 Inl Switzerland. July 15, 1943 SectionA 1*Public Law 690, August, 1946A Patentl expires July 15, 1963 This-invention relates to slide fasteners oi. the type employing a. pair of complementaryy interengageable stringers, onehaving a socket extentie ing along its forward edge and the other having an enlargement extendingV alongits forward. edge that is engageable in thesocket. of the rst mentioned Stringer, and. a. slider that embraces both the socket and' enlargement of the respective stringers and is` slidable therealong. to eiieot interengagement and disengagement thereof. The invention relates particularly to the construction of the slider for' engaging and disenfgaging the fastener st'ringers..

ll'he principal objects of the invention are` to provide an improved slider for thispurpose that may be integrally formed from a singley piece of sheet meta-l or the like, that Will more securely and positively interengage the fastener. stringers during the closing operation, and slide more smoothly along they stringers during both the opening and closing operations than the. sliders heretofore proposed.

Fastening devices consisting of! continuous edgeWays arranged socket and ribmembers made of flexible materiaLand adapted'to beinterlocked by the rib member being inserted into the socket either by hand or by means of a slider., are Wellknown. However, such fastening devices as heretofore constructed have had insuficient holding strength for certain closure.' arrangements.

For the'r purpose or securing` increased resistance to transverse tensionalA stress for such fastening devices, the coupling socketI and rib, as

herein disclosed, are respectively equipped with longitudinal, parallel, laterally, spaced inter'- locking grooves and tongues, the cross. sections of which may be triangular, semicircular, or dovetail-shaped.

A fastening device such as this: Will resist heavier transversev tensional stress regardless of whether the longitudinal grooves: are provided inside the. socket member or in the rib member of the fastening device.

This constructionv of thel stringers, moreover, provides a means o1 enhancing the-resistance, of the coupled fastening device', to any purposeful attempt to uncouple the said' device Without moving vthe slider, and affords `a higher degree of imperviousness to Water, inasmuch as the grooves and tongues, parallel with the longitudinal edges of the fastening device, may be disposed in laterally offset relationship to provide maximum rigidity.

A further form of construction, intended for.

fastening e. g. sheets of heavy canvas for tents, and with a View to securing a relativelyhigher degree of imperviousness to gases, includes a further grooveon the outer edge ofV the; rib member; and a corresponding; tongue inside the socket member adaptedn to be inserted into; the groovein theouter edge off the. rib member.

Coupling and uncouplng of the` rib; and socket members of fastening; devices ofthe classgreferred to by the presentV invention has to be donev by means of a slider.-

Whereas the commonly known type of: such sliders consists of two plates connected;with;` one another by meansof; a,wedge-shapedgopen,sleeve, the slider used in connection with. the; present invention is constructed in` such a manner that its plates diverge both lengthwise and inl height, While a wedge-shaped unilaterally open sleeve which connects the plates has channels severally corresponding to the longitudinal grooves and tongues, and run-ning between they grooves, and tongues, parallel to the Wallsofithejwedge-shaped sleeve; These channels collectively diverge in the` opposite direction, and at' a rate greater-than that of the longitudinal divergence of; theplfates;

Moreover, the` Wedge-shaped sleeve carrying the channelsl may be, shorter than, the, plates; so as to provide, on both ends orV the slider, angextension of the guidewayformed by the: plates and controllingv the coupling of the twomembers ofA the fastening device by'means oi the slider;

Furthermore, therib, or bead: member of: the fastening device may be tongued` on its" off side and capped with a stripv of) cloth suitably'fastened by means of paste, and disposed soi asfL to a'llovvV forV aV margin orsaidstrip of cloth tobesewn to the article' that isto be equippedzwith saidzmember' of the fastening'devicel Alternatively, theV` socket' member of thefastening device may be provided with` aslot-shaped rabbet for; the purposeof holding a stripof cloth suitably fastened inside by means off'paste, and disposed soaslto. allowL for a margin of said strip of cloth to be: similarly sewn together with the corresponding part of' the article that is tobe equipped with said member off ther fastening device. A

Itis therefore an; object oir the present invention to providel an impro-ved? separable slide vfastener of flexible' material having greatly increased: resistance to transverse separating stresses exerted on the cooperating interlocked members.

Another object is; tofp'rovid'e such a fastener having-its separable elements formed` with' improved means for securement to the material surrounding the opening to be closed by the fastener.

These and other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawing. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view of one form of separable slide fastener embodying the invention, with the section of the slider being taken on line II-II of Fig. 4.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of a modified form of separable slide fastener, according to the invention, with the operating slider omitted.

Fig. 3 is a view, similar to Fig. 2, of a further modif-led form of separable slide fastener construction according to the invention.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the slider on the line I-I of Fig. 1.

Figs. 5 and 6 are opposite and elevational views of the slider.

Referring to Figs. 1, 4, 5 and 6, the illustrated embodiment of the invention includes a separable slide fastener i having a pair of separable elements and 3D and a cooperating slider 40. Elements 20, 30 are of suitable flexible material such as natural rubber, modified natural rubber, artificial rubber, or plastic composition material. Slider 40 is of relatively stiff or rigid material, for example, metal or a hard plastic composition material.

Element 20 is formed with laterally spaced, parallel, longitudinally extending grooves 2|, 22 on opposite sides of a thickened portion or rib 23. A reduced portion or tongue 24 extends outwardly from rib 23, and strips of fabric 26, 21 are pasted, glued, cemented, or the like to the opposed surfaces of tongue 24. These strips are sewn or cemented to each other and to the material 25 of the garment, tent, or the like having the opening closed by fastener I0.

Element has an enlarged portion 3| with parallel, spaced walls 32, 33 forming a socket 34 receiving rib 23. Walls 32, 33 each have a rib 35, 31, extending longitudinally thereof, and aligned, in the juxtaposed position of elements 20, 30, with grooves 2|, 22, respectively, of element 2D. The cross-section of the laterally spaced, alternate ribs 36, 31 conforms to that of grooves 2|, 22. A reduced portion, or tongue, 35 extends outwardly Vfrom socket 34 and has a longitudinal recess or rabbet along its edge in which is glued, pasted, or cemented a fabric strip 38 which may be sewn to material 25.

The slider 40 operates along elements 20 and 3D to engage rib 23 in socket 34 and disengage it therefrom. Slider 40 is preferably a one-piece member of sheet material and includes longitudinally divergent outer walls 4|, 42 engaging the outer surfaces of walls 32, 33 of socket 34. The outer edges of walls 4|, 42 are curved inwardly as at 43, 44 to ride along the inner edge of enlarged part 3|. The inner edges of walls 4 I, 42 are joined by perpendicular anges 45, 41 to an inner, open-sided sleeve 45.

Sleeve 45 includes diverging walls 5|, 52, formed with ribs 53, 54, respectively, and having their inner edges joined by transversely arcuate wall 55. Ribs 53, 54 are shaped to conform to grooves 2|, 22 and ribs 36. 31, and walls 5|, 52 have surface engagement with rib 23 and the inner surfaces of socket walls 32, 33.

It will be noted that sleeve ribs 53, 54, and wall 55, extend diagonally relative to the longitudinal edges of elements 20, 30. Likewise, while anges 46, 41 are parallel to the edges of elements 20, 30, intermediate edges 43, 44 are diagonal with respect thereto, and diverge relative to wall 55. The effect of these angular relationships is that slider 4D, when pulled in one direction along elements 2|l, 30, draws rib 23 into socket 34 and aligns groolis 2|, 22 with ribs 36, 31, the divergent walls 5|, 52 clamping socket Walls 32, 33 against rib 23. When slider 40 is moved in the opposite direction, diverging walls 5|, 52 spread socket walls 32, 33 and arcuate wall 55 forces rib 23 out of socket 34, thus separating elements 20, 30.

Wall 42 of slider 4D is formed with a bracket 60 which may receive a suitable link for drawing slider 4i! along fastener l0.

In the embodiment of Fig. 2, corresponding parts have been given like reference characters primed. Referring to Fig. 2, enlargement 23 is formed with a pair of rearwardly directed, longitudinal ribs El. These ribs are staggered transversely of the enlargement. Socket 34' is formed with rearwardly opening, longitudinal recesses or grooves 62. Grooves 62 are transversely offset or staggered to align with ribs 6|. Interfitting of ribs 6| and recesses 82 effectively closes the fastener, and the described construction is highly resistant to transverse separation stresses.

The embodiment of Fig. 3 is substantially the same as that of Fig. 2, and the same reference characters, double primed, have been used for like or corresponding parts. Fig. 2 in that enlargement 23" is formed with a forwardly opening socket 63 which receives a bulbous tongue 64 with a thickened extremity 66. This construction provides a substantially gas impervious closure.

The invention thus provides an easily operated flexible fastener which is effectively closed by operation of a slider to form an impervious closure. The combination is simple in operation, eifective and of long life.

While specic embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles thereof, it will be understood that the invention may be otherwise embodied without departing from such principles.

I claim:

l. For use with a exible fastener comprising a pair of interengageable stringers, one of which has a socket extending along its forward edge and the other of which has an enlargement along its forward edge engageable in the socket, the opposite walls of the socket having ribs extending along their inner surfaces and engageable in mating grooves extending along the opposite surfaces of the enlargement; a slider for effecting engagement and disengagement of said stringers and consisting of an integral member engageable with and movable along the stringers, said member having an inner channel embracing the enlargement and an outer channel integral with and reversed relative to the inner channel and embracing the socket; the channels having common longitudinal oifsets engaging the socket ribs and enlargement grooves; the legs of the inner channel being substantially parallel to those of said outer channel and said channels tapering in depth and width from one end thereof toward the other end.

2. For use with a flexible fastener comprising a pair of interengageable stringers, one of which has a socket extending along its forward edge Fig. 3 differs from and the other of which has an enlargement along its forward edge engageable in the socket, the opposite walls of the socket having ribs extending along their inner surfaces and engageable in mating grooves extending along the opposite surfaces of the enlargement; a slider for effecting engagement and disengagement of said stringers and consisting of an integral member engageable with and movable along the stringers, said member having an inner channel embracing the enlargement and an outer channel integral with and reversed relative to the inner channel and embracing the socket; the channels having comn mon longitudinal olsets engaging the socket ribs and enlargement grooves.

HERMANN WENDE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the lle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,734,479 Glidden Nov. 5, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS lNumber Country Date 200,985 Switzerland Mar. 1, 1939 375,235 Italy Sept. 28, 1939 

